OpenPhysicsAI: open challenge to make AI predict 13 unsolved physics experiments

sebasmtl · reddit · 2026-09-28

A developer built OpenPhysicsAI, an open-source physics lab covering fluids, shocks, fire, heat, solids, sound, radar, and orbits — coded together with AI agents — and launched a public challenge built on that premise.

The challenge features 13 "flags": real experimental measurements no simulator has predicted yet, plus 4 starter trials. Participants improve it with any code, AI, or open-source solver and open a PR; a machine re-runs and scores it against sealed measurements in minutes, and winning code gets merged for everyone. Key lesson: agents write physics that looks right but is off by a factor of two, so every solver must match a known exact solution before it counts. The author's own bow shock prediction scores 45/100. Video shows pixel-by-pixel ray tracing of light bending around a black hole. Repo: github.com/molanocortes/OpenPhysicsAI

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